INSPECTOR JOHN WARD Southern Districts Support Services Tasmania Police Report
How Can I Better Protect Crowd Controllers Against False Accusations of Excessive Force? The utmost importance should be placed on the need for a high quality video recording of an occurrence. CCTV footage of the incidents occurring in and around your venue provides irrefutable evidence of the actions of staff and patrons. Upon viewing the footage many baseless allegations can quickly be resolved without further impost to licensees and staff. CCTV also provides the additional benefit of recording the patron’s actions and demeanour prior to a physical altercation occurring. Footage should be of sufficient resolution to identify persons and be capable of recording in high quality in all lighting conditions. As a minimum, footage should retained for at least 14 days. Please remember, video surveillance can / will protect a licensee, the relevant licence and any employees involved in any incident. As you may have experienced, intoxicated persons often have little or no memory of an incident, and simply provide an account to police based on poor memory, or their friends who rally to support when a complaint is being made. What Do the Figures Tell Us in the Southern District? The total average number of public order issues at licensed premises remains remarkably unchanged over a four year average. Police respond to approximately 67 incidents at licensed premises in the southern district per month. Pleasingly, there has been a reduction in the total number of public place assaults (including inside a licensed premises). The Hobart Division, which has the greatest concentration of licensed premises, has seen an 11% reduction in public place assaults. There is no doubt that the pleasing result is as a result of the corroborative approach by licensees, their staff, the THA, the Liquor and Gaming Branch and Tasmania Police. Your efforts are to be commended. As always I encourage you to contact the Southern Licensing Office on 61732758 if you wish to discuss and licensing related issued.
One of the responsibilities of Southern Licensing Services is the investigation of alleged assaults perpetrated by crowd control staff. In the last three months investigators from Southern Licensing Services have charged three crowd controllers with assault, allegedly committed upon patrons. While it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of individual cases, in these three instances patrons were rendered unconscious using choke holds and furthermore, patrons were kicked and punched. This comes shortly after the high profile trial of southern based crowd control agent who was incarcerated for five months last year. The consequences for the use of excessive force can be severe. The Importance of Accurate, Detailed Notes in the Register of Crowd Controllers It is disappointing when my staff routinely investigate such matters, significant shortcomings in the Register of Crowd Controllers are often identified. This register becomes an individual crowd controller’s notes of the physical force used in an altercation, involving themselves and patrons. Ultimately, licensees have the responsibility for ensuring that the details of the altercation are recorded in sufficient detail in this register. Frequently, this does not occur and this serves to undermine both the credibility and professionalism of the crowd controller involved. Attempting to complete the register after an allegation of impropriety has already been made to police is unacceptable. Furthermore, Southern Licensing Services experienced a recent instance where the author of the notes became aware of an allegation, and then redacted some of the notes that they initially entered. Failing to complete the register in a timely manner only serves to undermine this credibility. I ask that you take the opportunity to remind your staff and / or contractors of the importance of the register.
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June 2017 www.australianhotels.asn.au
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